Samuel L Jackson Speaks On ‘The Avengers’, Nick Fury & Joss Whedon

With the DVD and Blu-ray release of ‘The Avengers’ fast approaching and following last weekends news that Marvel’s superhero blockbuster reached the immense figure of $1.5 billion worldwide, Samuel L. Jackson caught up with The Age to speak on working with director Joss Whedon, researching Nick Fury, ‘The Avengers’ cast, donning Nick Fury’s costume and makeup, and more. Talking about his experience on the ‘The Avengers’ with Whedon, Jackson shared, “Joss Whedon is very good at what he does. He’s incredibly smart, and he’s a great director and writer. The script was constantly evolving. We would get eight or nine pages, and two days later he would say, “I was thinking about that… Now it should be this.” Once you look at it all on screen, it all comes together – and it’s very nice.” Continuing why he thought Whedon’s ‘The Avengers’ script worked so well, the actor said, “Joss knows more about the comic book genre than most people, especially within this particular franchise. He has an understanding of the relationships of the characters and he understands the Marvel world. He put the story and the characters together in a very unique and wonderful way.”

Touching on his research for Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson shared the following, “I’ve been reading the Fury comics since I was a kid. I remember when it was Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos in the War World II war comic books. That’s when I was introduced to him, and then I moved on. Then all of a sudden, I pick up an Avengers comic book and I was like, “Hey, that’s me!” It’s amazing. It’s great.” The actor also talked about the hair, makeup and costume for Nick Fury, shedding some light on a change to the characters appearance, “At a certain point in the production, it only took the makeup team 20 minutes to put on the eye patch and scars. However, the first time it took about an hour-and-a-half because we had to go back and forth to Joss. We’d have to ask things like, “Is this too much? Is this not enough?” We actually changed the scar to the comic book scar for this movie, which is something that a few people have noticed. If you look at the Iron Man and Thor movies, the scar looks like two little cat scratches.”

Finally, the Oscar-nominee was asked which of his movies he is most proud of, revealing, “I’m proud of all of them, although there are some I like more than others. My favorite film of my own is The Long Kiss Goodnight because I like great action films. I think Geena Davis was brilliant in that film. She was a bit ahead of her time because that movie was shot before they knew how to market women badasses. She’s the quintessential woman badass. If you watched that movie, it’s great. Just like The Avengers is great, too. I’ve had a lot of fun working on this film and I’m really proud of what we’ve created. It feels great to be part of the Marvel universe.”

Widely praised by fans and critics alike, ‘The Avengers’ is currently sitting comfortably at the third spot on the all-time world box office list with a hefty haul of $1,501,800,000, trailing only James Cameron’s ’Titanic’ ($2.185 billion) and ‘Avatar’ ($2.782 billion). As of Sunday, the Joss Whedon-helmed flick is sitting at a US gross of $620.1 million and an international gross of $882.3 million. Marvel recently signed a deal for Whedon to return for ‘The Avengers 2′ as well as help develop a live-action ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ series for Marvel Television at ABC. The filmmaker will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe. The tentatively-titled ‘The Avengers 2′ will follow ’Iron Man 3,’ ‘Thor: The Dark World,’ ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and presumably hopefully Edgar Wright’s ‘Ant-Man.’ Marvel Studios has set a May 1st, 2015 release date for ‘The Avengers 2.’

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in ‘Iron Man,’ ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ ‘Iron Man 2,’ ‘Thor,’ and ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ the global box office for ‘The Avengers’ has obliterated the totals of those individual films. The totals for those preceding films are: ‘Iron Man’ with $585.1 million worldwide, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ with $263.4 million worldwide, ’Iron Man 2′ with $623.9 million worldwide, ’Thor’ with $449.3 million worldwide, and finally ‘Captain America’ with $368.6 million worldwide. Directed by Joss Whedon, ‘The Avengers’ (‘Avengers Assemble’ in the UK) stars Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye/Clint Barton), Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), and Tom Hiddleston (Loki). The likes of Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, and Stellen Skarsgard co-star.

’The Avengers’ is available as a 2D Blu-ray Combo Pack, a 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack and on DVD from September 17th in the UK and September 25th in the US. The synopsis and production notes for Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ can be read below. My interviews for the film can be found here: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, and Joss Whedon.

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, “Marvel’s The Avengers” brings together the mightiest super hero characters as they all assemble together on screen for the first time. The star studded cast of super heroes will be joined by Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother) as Agent Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as Tom Hiddleston (“Wallander”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Angels & Demons,” “Mamma Mia!”) who will both reprise their respective roles as Loki and Professor Erik Selvig from the upcoming Marvel Studios’ feature “Thor.”

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the super hero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.

“Marvel’s The Avengers” is being produced by Marvel Studios’ President, Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patty Whitcher, and Jon Favreau. Marvel Studios’ Jeremy Latcham and Victoria Alonso will co-produce.

The creative production team also includes Oscar nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”), production designer James Chinlund (“25th Hour”), Oscar winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Oscar winning visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs (“Iron Man 2,” “The Matrix”), visual effects producer Susan Pickett (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2″), stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell (“Superman Returns”), and four-time Oscar nominated special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Iron Man,” “War of the Worlds”). The editors include Oscar nominated Paul Rubell (“Collateral”) and Jeffrey Ford (“Crazy Heart”).